And the Winners Are…Conclusion of the Innovators Business Pitch Competition
Shelley Scipione, MBA2 and Shane Rahmani, BBA2 sscipion@umich.edu, srahmani@umich.edu
Issue date: 2/5/01 Section: News
The Business Pitch Competition Finals represented the three best business pitches out of a pool of submissions selected by the Wolverine Venture Fund. The finalists took home $3,500 for first place, $1,000 for second place and $500 for third place.
The Finalists were:
• Evisen: Evisen provides a platform that helps individuals transform their information, knowledge, and skills into digital products available for sale over the Internet. Evisen is led by University of Michigan MBA candidate Michael Beaton and Ph.D. Candidate Haksun Li.
• Flex-Labs: Flex-Lab Technologies (FLT) specializes in the application of advanced sensing technology to the medical and environmental testing industries. Flex Lab is led by University of Michigan MBA candidates John LoPorto, Dean Nowicki, Richard Smith, Ph.D and alumnus Steve Rose, Ph.D.
• Mobius Integrated Systems: Mobius Integrated Systems designs and manufactures integrated circuits to allow companies to efficiently create products for embedded applications. The Management team consists of Michael McCorquodale, Matthew Guthaus and Keith Kraver, Ph.D. Candidates from the University of Michigan.
The student teams gave fifteen-minute presentations followed by ten minutes of questions from the judges. The judges were comprised of the following Venture Capitalists:
• Chris Risik: Ardesta Capital, Ann Arbor, MI
• Katrin Hilner: Katalyst, Philadelphia, PA
• Mark Giometti: Accenture, Boston, MA
• Jason Lazar: ITU Ventures, Los Angeles, CA
The diverse panel of judges came back with a quick decision to declare Mobius as the winner. Flex-Labs commanded second place and Evisen finished third. Mobius was presented by Michael McCorquodale, who pitched his team’s technical product with clarity and pizzazz. Michael showcased his knowledge of the market and the potential for his product as he handled multiple rounds of questions from the panel and the audience with ease. Finally, he indicated that he needed to further develop the concept and develop a more detailed plan with the help of MBA students. He has recently found the added expertise needed by teaming up with a group of six MBAs within the structure of ES 515/517 (fondly known as “Lawlor’s class, though it is taught by Tim Petersen of the Zell-Lurie Entrepreneurial Institute this semester).
The Finalists were:
• Evisen: Evisen provides a platform that helps individuals transform their information, knowledge, and skills into digital products available for sale over the Internet. Evisen is led by University of Michigan MBA candidate Michael Beaton and Ph.D. Candidate Haksun Li.
• Flex-Labs: Flex-Lab Technologies (FLT) specializes in the application of advanced sensing technology to the medical and environmental testing industries. Flex Lab is led by University of Michigan MBA candidates John LoPorto, Dean Nowicki, Richard Smith, Ph.D and alumnus Steve Rose, Ph.D.
• Mobius Integrated Systems: Mobius Integrated Systems designs and manufactures integrated circuits to allow companies to efficiently create products for embedded applications. The Management team consists of Michael McCorquodale, Matthew Guthaus and Keith Kraver, Ph.D. Candidates from the University of Michigan.
The student teams gave fifteen-minute presentations followed by ten minutes of questions from the judges. The judges were comprised of the following Venture Capitalists:
• Chris Risik: Ardesta Capital, Ann Arbor, MI
• Katrin Hilner: Katalyst, Philadelphia, PA
• Mark Giometti: Accenture, Boston, MA
• Jason Lazar: ITU Ventures, Los Angeles, CA
The diverse panel of judges came back with a quick decision to declare Mobius as the winner. Flex-Labs commanded second place and Evisen finished third. Mobius was presented by Michael McCorquodale, who pitched his team’s technical product with clarity and pizzazz. Michael showcased his knowledge of the market and the potential for his product as he handled multiple rounds of questions from the panel and the audience with ease. Finally, he indicated that he needed to further develop the concept and develop a more detailed plan with the help of MBA students. He has recently found the added expertise needed by teaming up with a group of six MBAs within the structure of ES 515/517 (fondly known as “Lawlor’s class, though it is taught by Tim Petersen of the Zell-Lurie Entrepreneurial Institute this semester).
